


Hot For Teacher

by ameowzing



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Eventual Relationships, Eventual Smut, F/M, Mentions of Blood, Seto Kaiba has anger issues, and control issues too who am I kidding, reader gets hit on cuz she's american and apparently we're sluts, vague harassment
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-22
Updated: 2018-02-27
Packaged: 2018-11-17 04:58:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 17,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11268408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ameowzing/pseuds/ameowzing
Summary: You didn't think that this was how your life was going to turn out when you became an English teacher abroad. You didn't imagine you'd be teaching Mokuba Kaiba, or that it would lead to working for his brother. How had your life gotten to this point?





	1. Chapter 1

“Kirei-Sensei,” A voice said behind you.

You turned around in your desk chair to see none other than Mokuba Kaiba at your office door. He was one of your best students, his English comprehension was far beyond middle school level. Rarely did Mokuba Kaiba find the need to come to the staff room after classes were over for the day. You motioned for him to come in, not bothering to get up when he got to the side of your desk.

“Yes, Mokuba,” You responded.

“Are you going back home after the school year is over?” Mokuba asked.

“I don’t know,” You responded. “The school is still deciding on whether or not they want to renew my contract. So this might be my only year as your English teacher.”

“But everyone likes learning English with you as our teacher,” Mokuba whined.

“I’m flattered,” You replied with a smile. “But the head teacher didn’t take a liking to exactly how honestly I was answering some of the student’s questions.”

Mokuba made an irritated sound before jutting his lower lip out in an impressive pout. You chuckled at his antics.

“If you don’t have a job here will you leave?” Mokuba asked.

“I’m going to have to, Mokuba,” You reminded him. “That’s how work visas, well, that’s how they work.”

“It wouldn’t have to be a teaching job, would it?” Mokuba asked.

“Do you have a job for me?” You asked with a grin.

“I don’t,” Mokuba replied. “But my big brother does.”

Mokuba pulled a card out from his pocket and handed it to you. It was a simple business card but it had one of the most sought after phone numbers in all of Domino on it. Seto Kaiba might have a job for you.  
“He needs translators for his newest game,” Mokuba explained happily. “There’s a big section that’s half in English and Seto wants English to be the first language of the people working on it.”

“Does he know you’re telling me this?” You asked.

“Yes,” Mokuba said with an enthusiastic nod. “I told him about you last night.”

You really didn’t want to know what that conversation consisted of.

“Thank you, Mokuba,” You said. “I’ll think about it.”

Mokuba bowed slightly before making his way back to the door. He hesitated at the doorway before turning back to you.

“His favorite color is blue,” Mokuba said.

“Excuse me,” You replied.

“My brother,” Mokuba elaborated shyly. “His favorite color is blue. You should wear it to your interview.”

“You sound very sure I would have an interview,” You said.

“If you send your résumé to my brother you will,” Mokuba said.

“Alright, I’ll send him my résumé,” You relented. “Now go home and do your homework, it’s getting late.”

“Bye bye Kirei-Sensei,” Mokuba called out happily.

You massaged your temple as you looked at the business card in your hand. A phone number and an email address were the only real pieces of information on it. With a sigh you turned to the computer on your desk. What was the harm really? You didn’t have a job and if you wanted to stay in the country you had to have one. Seto Kaiba probably wouldn’t even look at your résumé he’d probably delegate that to someone else along with your interview.

So you updated your résumé to include this teaching job and added a nice short cover letter including Mokuba’s little visit. You barely looked for any typos before you hit send. Mr. Kaiba was a busy man he probably wouldn’t even look at it. Besides you had papers to grade. Halfway through your class’s latest essay your cellphone started to ring. The phone number had a Domino area code but you’d never seen it before. With a shrug you picked up the call.

“Hello,” You said.

Your full name was said in perfect English.

“Yes, speaking,” You replied.

“Mr. Kaiba would like to set up an interview with you about the job opening,” The woman who you could only assume was his secretary said. “Does 6:30 on Tuesday work for you?”

“Yes,” You replied. “Yes, absolutely, that’d be perfect.”

“Alright, well go to reception when you get here,” She instructed you. “Present them with picture ID and state your business and they’ll give you instructions.”

“Thank you very much,” You said. “Have a nice night.”

“You’re welcome, miss,” She replied.

You stared at your phone in disbelief. Mokuba wasn’t kidding.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will Mokuba ever stop meddling?

“Is your interview today?” Mokuba asked.

“Why do you ask?” You asked.

“Because you’re wearing blue,” Mokuba said with a smile.

You were wearing your lucky blue dress. It made you feel confident, hugging your body in just the right ways. Besides pairing it with a black jacket and some nice heels made it work appropriate. With a sigh you   
addressed Mokuba.

“It is today,” You whispered. “But I haven’t told the head teacher I’m looking for a new job because I think they won’t renew my contract yet so you keep it zipped okay?”

Mokuba mimed zipping his lips shut with the widest grin you’d ever seen him give anyone.

“Are you planning on showing up early?” He asked.

“I was planning on getting there early,” You replied.

“Good,” Mokuba crowed. “Seto likes people who show up early.”

“I hate to say this,” You grinned as you mock scolded your favorite student. “But you telling me all this is giving me a very unfair advantage.”

“So,” Mokuba shrugged. “You need it more anyway.”

“What? I need your help more than other people?” You asked.

“No, the job,” Mokuba said.

“You don’t know that,” You replied.

“But I know you,” Mokuba said. “Seto would hire you without my help but isn’t it nice to help people?”

“You got me there,” You said.

“Don’t you want us to be good?” Mokuba asked.

“Don’t milk it, kid,” You grinned. “I already agreed you’re being nice.”

Mokuba’s smile only widened. 

“If you want you can get a ride to Kaiba Corp with me,” He offered.

“I’m still you’re teacher,” You reminded him. “And that would be inappropriate, no matter how thoughtful of a suggestion it is. So, thank you, but I can find my way there just fine.”

“But I know you don’t have a car,” Mokuba whined. “And it’s far away.”

“The public transportation system in this city is more than reliable,” You told him. “I can make it there just fine. So for the second time in less than a week, go home and do your homework.”

“Fine,” Mokuba pouted.

As he turned to walk away you sighed.

“Mokuba,” You called after him.

He stopped to look at you.

“Thank you,” You said, bowing your head slightly lower than you needed to.

Mokuba’s face lit up with a smile. He waved enthusiastically before making his way out of the building. You didn’t have any work to do but getting a ride from a student would be the most inappropriate thing you ever did. So you waited a few minutes before grabbing your purse and leaving for the train station.

You took your time getting to the station. The trains were so frequent, and you had so much spare time, you didn’t worry about rushing to get to this interview. Vaguely you wondered about what kind of game this would be. If there were large sections in English than how was it going to sell? After this assignment would you still even have a job at Kaiba Corp?

“Idiot,” You scolded yourself. “It doesn’t matter if he gives you a contract or not, working at Kaiba Corp. without getting fired is like guaranteed jobs for the rest of your life.”

The station was more crowded than it normally was when you went home. After seeing high school kids shove each other onto the train you decided to wait for the next one. Why be squished when you had all the time in the world to think of what to say during the interview.

“Whatever you do,” You thought grimly. “Don’t let Kaiba know you’re attracted to him.”

Dueling was big everywhere when you were a teenager. It was still massive in Japan, and especially Domino, but the fad had died out in America. You still remembered the first time you saw Seto Kaiba demolish a duelist without batting an eye. His confidence won you over quickly. The next year you had begged for tickets to the dueling event of your lifetime. You saw him defeat Weevil Underwood and anyone else that had dared to challenge him. It was the closest you ever thought you’d get to him. In less than an hour you’d be sitting in his office.

Your train pulled up and wordlessly you got on. You sat in silence and thought about what you were about to be delivered to. Honestly you had seen the job posting for Kaiba Corp. online weeks ago. If Mokuba hadn’t pushed you to apply you never would’ve. Seto Kaiba was leagues ahead of you. He was a silly schoolgirl crush and you knew his reputation for being cold and ruthless. You wondered how many women tried to apply just to meet him.

The train ride across town was as short as you expected it to be. You were one of the few people getting off at the stop down the street from Kaiba Corp. With a deep breath you squared your shoulders and headed into the massive building. The reception desk was directly in front of you and behind that were three elevators. You walked up to the receptionist with a smile. Without being prompted you pulled out your driver’s license and handed it to her.

“Hello,” You said with a smile. “I’m here for an interview with Mr. Kaiba.”

After looking at your ID she picked up the phone at her desk. She said your name to whoever was on the other line and agreed with them before hanging up.

“If you’ll just wait one moment miss,” She said with a polite nod. “Someone will be down with your temporary Kaiba Corp. ID card.”

“Thank you,” You replied.

Within five minutes the middle elevator opened and Mokuba walked out.


	3. Chapter 3

You looked at Mokuba, one eyebrow quirking in exasperation, as he walked up to you. Before you could say anything he held out your company ID. You took it and clipped it onto your lapel.

“Is this your paygrade, Mokuba?” You asked, trying and failing to fight a smile.

“Most people would be happy the Vice President personally delivered their ID,” Mokuba laughed. 

“Thank you, Mr. Vice President,” You said. “Can I go to my interview now?”

“I’ll take you,” Mokuba insisted.

“Lead the way,” You sighed.

Mokuba lead you into the elevator he had just come out of and to the top floor. There was a secretary dutifully typing at the desk in front of what must have been the doors to Seto Kaiba’s office. She barely glanced up at the two of you before hitting the button on the intercom on her desk.

“Mr. Kaiba, your 6:30 appointment is here,” She said.

She resumed typing without even addressing you.

“We can wait over here,” Mokuba gestured to a few plush chairs lining the wall of windows behind you.

“We,” You repeated.

“I’m going to be there for your interview,” Mokuba said.

“Why?” You asked.

You sat at the farthest chair and Mokuba gladly plopped down directly next to you.

“Because I’m the Vice President,” Mokuba said happily.

“Why do I have the feeling you don’t sit in on everyone’s interviews?” You asked Mokuba.

You reached your hand out to affectionately pinch at Mokuba’s cheek. He had slapped both hands over his cheeks in anticipation.

“How often have I done that?” You asked. “Now you all anticipate it.”

“You do it whenever you’re happy with us,” Mokuba said.

He grinned up at you without letting go of his own face. You laughed lightly.

“I guess I do,” You said with a shrug.

After a few minutes of Mokuba idly chattering to you about every reason why you should’ve been rehired at his school the intercom on the desk crackled to life.

“Send her in,” Seto Kaiba’s voice crackled over the intercom.

“You can go in now,” The secretary replied without looking at either of you.

“Well here goes nothing,” You muttered.

“You shouldn’t mumble,” Mokuba scolded you. “My brother doesn’t like it when people mumble.”

You looked at Mokuba dryly before standing up. When he went to follow you, you darted your hand out to nip at his cheek. Mokuba squeaked indignantly before grabbing his abused cheek.

“Surprise attacks aren’t fair,” He cried out.

“Life’s not fair,” You replied with a laugh.

Mokuba grumbled before opening his brother’s office door and gesturing for you to walk in first. You put a hand over your heart and couldn’t fight the fond expression that rose to your face.

“Why, thank you,” You said.

Mokuba’s only reply was to beam in happiness and follow you inside. Once the door was closed behind you, you became acutely aware of the way Seto Kaiba was surveying you. It wasn’t an icy stare but a probing one, it wondered what you had to gain from being nice to his younger brother and exactly how competent you were if you allowed a fifteen year olds affection to sway you so much.  
When you got to his desk Kaiba stood. He greeted you curtly. His handshake was much firmer than you thought it would be. When you sat at the chair opposite him you noticed Mokuba had hung back. He was probably sitting on the couch you passed. Kaiba’s eyes flicked down to your ID and then behind you.

“Normally visitors IDs don’t have pictures on them,” Kaiba said, though it was directed more at Mokuba then at you.

“But, Seto,” Mokuba tried to say.

“Mokuba,” You interrupted him. “Can you come here?”

You motioned for him to come stand by your chair like he would in the faculty room. He stood with a huff and walked to your side with that massive pout on his face again. You had the sinking suspicion anything you said while he thought he was getting yelled at wouldn’t stick.

“As my favorite student,” You began.

“I’m your favorite,” He perked up immediately.

“Yes, you’re my favorite,” You chuckled. “And since you’re my favorite, I’m going to let you in on a secret.”

You gestured between all three of you.

“This isn’t how job interviews work,” You said in your honest teacher voice. “I understand that everything you’re doing is coming from a good place. I know you don’t want me to leave, trust me I don’t want to have to leave either, but if I’m not the most qualified person for this job then I shouldn’t get it. And if I don’t get it, then I don’t get it, and you’ll be sad I didn’t, and I’ll be sad I didn’t, but that’s okay. You can’t get everything you want, and this very well might be a good example of that.”

Mokuba looked at his brother and then at you.

“I just wanted to help,” He said.

“I know,” You replied softly. “I don’t think it’s entirely appropriate for you to be here right now though. I’m not going to ask you to leave. If you think you need to be here for this, then I won’t mind that you’re here, but if you think you don’t need to be here then maybe you should wait outside?”

Mokuba screwed his mouth into a tight frown. He looked over at his brother with that sour expression, probably hoping for him to deny that he shouldn’t be here. When no such word came from Seto he sighed and slumped his shoulders.

“I’ll be outside,” He relented.

Once Mokuba was gone you returned your attention to the older Kaiba brother. He sat forward with his fingers steepled, staring at you. His expression was unreadable.

“Now that that show’s over,” Kaiba said icily. “Perhaps we can actually start your interview.”

“I’m sorry,” You said. “But nothing I said just now was part of a show. I’m not entirely sure how to convince you otherwise.”

“Let’s start with why you want this job,” Kaiba supplied.

“May I be blunt?” You asked.

“Sure,” Kaiba replied.

“I have a work visa,” You explained. “I need a job to stay in this country and I’m fairly certain my teaching contract isn’t going to be renewed. I’m assuming Mokuba told you that much.”

“He didn’t tell me why you weren’t going to get rehired,” Kaiba responded. 

That stare continued. This was a test. Were you willing to let Seto Kaiba in on what happened? With a sigh you decided that if it meant the difference between not getting this job and getting it, you had to tell him.

“I care about my students, Mr. Kaiba,” You said. “If they ask me questions I’ll answer them honestly. My kids know that. So they started asking me about topics that aren’t covered in any part of their curriculum.”

“What were these questions about?” Kaiba asked.

“Mostly, they were the most basic sex education class questions I’d ever heard,” You laughed a little. “Most of them didn’t even have to do with anything explicit, they were asking about their own bodies and how they were going to change, or why sometimes they just started crying out of nowhere, things I’d expect a first year in middle school to know.”

“And you thought it was appropriate to answer them?” Kaiba asked.

“With all due respect, Mr. Kaiba,” You said. “You have no idea what its like to be a teenage girl, especially when you have so many questions about yourself that no one will answer. I tried to steer them to the school nurse, to their family doctors, to anyone who was more qualified than me to explain this subject, but they always got the same answers that they didn’t need to know anything if they weren’t having sex. So I answered their questions. More and more of them heard I would, so more and more of them came to see me. Do you know what I discovered Mr. Kaiba?”

“What?” He asked.

“That my kids had thoughtful questions,” You said with a small smile. “There wasn’t one question about making someone else do something they didn’t want to, or asking how you got another person to break up with their significant other to be with you. Everything they asked was about knowing whether or not you were ready to do something, or how you figured out if you wanted to do anything ever, or if my answers would’ve been the same for American teenagers. They had this unquenchable thirst for knowledge about themselves, how was I supposed to not answer them?”

“But none of those students are your favorite,” Kaiba shot back.

“You want to know why Mokuba’s my favorite,” You said. “He’s wildly smart. His English comprehension far surpasses the rest of his class. He knows he’s smarter than the rest of his class, and that doesn’t stop him from being kind. He goes out of his way to help people, if this wasn’t a good enough example I can think of a dozen others.”

Kaiba considered that answer for a moment. He picked up a paper on his desk before looking at you again.

“You’re background check was clean,” Kaiba said. “You have quite a few skills that aren’t listed on your application though.”

“My other skills don’t really contribute anything to an office job,” You shrugged.

“Most people are worried what their background check says about them,” Kaiba said.

“I know what mine says,” You assured him.

“With all of your skills you could’ve gotten much better paying jobs in America,” Kaiba said. “Jobs that didn’t include dealing with children, or translating for a gaming company, why did you choose to come here?”

“To Japan in general,” You specified. “This country is beautiful. I like teaching kids. It seemed like an obvious choice.”

“Are you fluent in Japanese?” He asked.

“No,” You answered. “I’m proficient but I’m not fluent.”

“What’s your greatest weakness?” He asked.

“Probably that I care too much,” You said.

“How do you handle working under pressure?” Kaiba asked.

With a smile you replied, “Very well.”

“How do you handle failure?” He asked.

“I’ve learned to take it in stride, there’s a lot to learn from failing,” You said. “Failure is never easy but the stakes are much lower at an office job than any of my other options.”

“If Mokuba hadn’t badgered you into applying for this job,” Kaiba said. “Would you have applied?”

“Yes,” You lied.

“I have more interviews for this position,” Kaiba informed you. “Expect a call at the end of the week.”

“Would the call be for another interview?” You asked.

“No it’ll tell you if you’re hired,” Kaiba said. “Or not.”

“Thank you for the opportunity, Mr. Kaiba,” You said with a smile.

Kaiba nodded. You took that as a signal you should leave. You went to walk out but stopped before you opened his door.

“I know you don’t need me to say this,” You said. “And if you could completely disregard this in terms of my interview I’d appreciate it. Mokuba is such a good kid. He was always a pleasure to have in class. You did a good job with him.”

“You can leave now,” Kaiba replied in a clipped tone.

As you walked back into the hallway you wondered if that was a mistake.


	4. Chapter 4

The next day at work you were in a clearly bad mood. You tried to smile and fake it but you were apparently unconvincing. At lunch when you excused yourself to grab something quickly from a vending machine down the hall Mokuba followed you. You waited until you punched in what you wanted before you looked at him. His big blue eyes asked every question the rest of your students had been wondering all day.

“I think I made a mistake,” You reluctantly admitted.

“Well that’s okay,” Mokuba reassured you. “You always tell us that making mistakes is part of learning.”

“It is,” You agreed. “But when it comes to job interviews you only get one shot normally and if you mess up its bad.”

“I don’t think you messed up,” Mokuba said.

“How could you not?” You asked with a sigh.

“Do you think Seto’s mad at you?” Mokuba asked.

“The word mad is a bit of an understatement Mokuba,” You laughed grimly. “He looked like he wanted to sew my mouth shut.”

Mokuba frowned. He was quiet for a moment before looking up at you nervously.

“When I was little I was kidnapped,” Mokuba admitted lowly.

“What?” You whispered harshly. 

“We knew the man who hired the kidnappers,” Mokuba continued. “Seto came to rescue me.”

You had never wanted to hug Mokuba more than right now.

“I’m so sorry you had to go through that,” You said. “It must have been very scary.”

“It was,” Mokuba said. “But I knew Seto would come get me. He’d never say it but he doesn’t like hearing when adults know me too well.”

“He was worried I’d hurt you,” You realized.

“A lot of people don’t understand how Seto thinks,” Mokuba informed you. “He doesn’t really smile anymore. He can be mean but he’s not a bad person.”

“I don’t think your brother is a bad person,” You told him before wiping a hand down your face in defeat. “Did he tell you what I said?”

“No,” Mokuba replied. “What’d you say?”

“That he did a good job raising you,” You winced.

“That might have been a mistake,” Mokuba said with a grimace.

“I thought so,” You sighed. “Well I better start packing my stuff, I guess.”

Mokuba made an unhappy noise.

“No use dwelling on it,” You said with your best fake smile. “C’mon you can watch me chug this melon soda as we walk back to the classroom.”

Mokuba fought back a giggle as you began to walk back. Before you stepped back into the room you took a deep breath. If this wasn’t meant to be than you wouldn’t force it. You could deal with moving back to America. You could deal with leaving all your kids in states of ignorance. You had dealt with worse.

After the day was over you walked to the front gate. It was your turn to do what you still considered to be the weirdest part of your job description, guarding the school. You leaned against the stone wall and watched as kids excitedly ran past you. You were supposed to yell at them to not run but at this point you couldn’t find it in you. There were a few cars pulled to the side of the street full of relatives ready to whisk kids away to make the most of summer vacation. You looked at the car that was pulling up curiously.

“That looks expensive,” was all you could think as it slowed to a stop.

Then a sinking feeling filled your stomach. There was only one prominent family that had a penchant for nice toys and a kid at this school. You tried not to look mortified as Seto Kaiba stepped out of the car. The look he gave you was spine tingling. You did your best to smile at him convincingly. It was a little easier than you expected.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Kaiba,” You said.

“Come here,” He replied coolly.

“I’m sorry,” You said. “But unless there’s another teacher here I can’t.”

He made the same irritated noise that Mokuba made. Or, you realized, Mokuba made the same irritated noises that his older brother made. When he moved to walk around his car to approach you the only word   
you could think was fuck, over and over again until he stood in front of you. 

“How can I help you, Mr. Kaiba?” You asked.

You desperately hoped the dread you felt wasn’t coming through your tone.

“I’m surprised Mokuba isn’t attached to your hip,” Kaiba said.

“I think he’s inside talking to some of his classmates,” You replied. “I think there was a year book being passed around.”

“How cute,” He sneered. “If you were wondering, now would have been the appropriate time to tell me anything about Mokuba.”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Kaiba,” You said. “But I didn’t know if I’d have the opportunity to tell you again. I wouldn’t have forgiven myself if I missed my only chance to say it.”

Kaiba narrowed his eyes and hummed in response. He was giving you that look again. The look that wondered if you were being genuine or if you were trying to lure him into some trap by giving him a false sense of security. It was unnerving.

“Kirei-Sensei,” A voice said from behind you.

A few girls from your class stood anxiously. You knew them well. They had spent countless hours in the staff room with you long after they should’ve gone home. Their eyes darted to Kaiba before returning to you. Nakamura and Takahashi stood slightly behind Yamazaki. She held a notebook in her outstretched hands.

“What’s this?” You asked.

“You said you didn’t know what to do over summer break,” Yamazaki said. “So everyone in class wrote down their ideas.”

“We made sure there were no repeats,” Nakamura added.

“Or things you’d already done,” Takahashi said.

“So next year when you come to the high school in the morning,” They all smiled. “We can all talk about our fun summer vacations.”

You took the notebook gently. Every page was filled with something precious so you couldn’t force yourself to treat it anything less than delicately. 

“Thank you so much,” You said. “But I don’t know if I’m going to be able to teach you all again next year.”

“Did you get fired because of us?” Yamazaki asked lowly.

“No, don’t do that,” You said firmly. “Don’t make learning a bad thing. You’re all so bright and hungry for answers it would be an unimaginable shame to stop yourselves before you’ve reached your full potential.”

“How are we going to keep learning if no will give us answers?” Takahashi asked.

“You know in video games the more bad guys there are trying to stop you the more you’re headed in the right direction,” You said. “Learn to tell the difference between people who aren’t answering because they don’t know or because they don’t want you to know. It’s not going to be easy, and a lot of the time it won’t be fun, but it’ll be worth it.”

“Well,” Nakamura said. “If Kirei-Sensei can’t be our teacher next year then you have to start a mailing list!”

“Or a blog,” Takahashi added. “So we can all see that you did the things on your list.”

“And we can still keep in touch with you,” Yamazaki said.

“I guess I’m starting a blog,” You said with a laugh.

Yamazaki turned her left cheek towards you. With a watery laugh you pinched all the girl’s cheeks. They beamed at you, shouting words of encouragement as they took their leave.

“I’m not going to cry,” You said.

It was unconvincing.

“Good,” Kaiba said firmly.

Mokuba traipsed his way over to you soon after.

“Why didn’t all of you give it to me?” You asked Mokuba.

“Yamazaki asked if it was okay,” Mokuba shrugged. “And it was her idea in the first place so we said yes. What were you two talking about?”

“Nothing important,” Seto said. “Are you ready to go?”

“After, Kieri-Sensei reads my idea,” Mokuba insisted.

Seto sighed but he didn’t move to leave.

“Well,” He prompted you.

“I’m looking, I’m looking,” You said.

You flipped through the pages quickly. Then you hit the page that was clearly Mokuba’s.

“Mokuba,” You gasped.

“It’s fine,” He said.

“Mokuba,” You snapped.

“It’s fine,” He insisted.

“Mokuba, every time I mention something your family owns that doesn’t make it a request to get me the thing,” You hissed. “Are these actual tickets to Kaiba Land?”

“Of course they are,” Mokuba laughed. “You said you wanted to go.”

“I am an adult, Mokuba,” You said. “I can pay for my own pricey theme park tickets.”

“But now you can spend that money on food,” Mokuba argued. “Or games, we have a ton of games that can get you Duel Monsters prizes.”

You sighed.

“Like actual cards or are we talking stuffed animals,” You said.

Mokuba grinned. Damn him for knowing you liked Duel Monsters.

“That depends on the game,” Mokuba said. “There is a White Horned Dragon up for grabs if you can beat the AI in the duel arena.”

“Uh huh and how many people beat that a month?” You asked.

Mokuba looked to Seto.

“White Horned Dragon has been the prize for the last three months,” He said.

“I’m not that good a duelist,” You admitted. 

“Seto can beat it no problem,” Mokuba said.

“I know you live with your brother so he probably doesn’t seem like that big a deal to you,” You said to Mokuba. “But saying that he can beat a duel challenge so it must be easy is like saying since Mozart wrote his   
first symphony at eight that must be easy.”

“Are you saying my brother is the Mozart of Duel Monsters?” Mokuba asked.

“Flattery won’t secure you a job,” Kaiba remarked.

“What have I done to deserve the belief that everything I say is disingenuous?” You asked lightheartedly.

“You exist in a world where most people are,” Kaiba replied.

“Still it’s a bit insulting,” You said. “And I’m saying that as both your younger brother’s teacher and a prospective employee.”

“It’s meant to be,” Kaiba told you before turning to Mokuba. “Are you ready now?”

“Alright, I’m ready,” Mokuba sighed. “Tell me how you like Kaiba Land, Kirei-Sensei.”

You waved goodbye to both Kaiba brothers. That didn't go as bad as you thought it was going to.


	5. Chapter 5

You knew how today was going to go. You had an early meeting with the head teacher and then, since school was out, you had some rare free time. Before you walked into his office you knew what was going to be said. Throughout his speech about appropriate topics in school and your performance in general you completely zoned out. The head teacher was a boring man. He thanked you for your hard work and asked you to leave in the same sentence.

You had cleared your desk out the day before. You didn’t even stop to say goodbye to your coworkers preferring a quick exit. While you could spend the day moping you decided to start working on those summer memories the students requested while you had the time for it. Most of their ideas were simple but time consuming. A good chunk involved a day trip to Tokyo. So you headed to the train station to start your adventure.

Tokyo was relatively close. The train ride wasn’t a full hour long. You planned on getting the 9 AM train there to maximize the amount of things you could do today. Of course with how your day was going you ran onto the platform as the train you wanted to take was leaving. The next train came in ten minutes. Heaving a sigh, you found a bench to go wait on. There were a few emails from people back home you had to respond to so you might as well do that while you waited.

“Woah, a foreigner,” You heard someone close by say. “Look how long those legs are, I bet the rest of her looks pretty good too.”

You fought the urge to sigh. Why did no one ever assume you spoke Japanese?

“Dude, where are you going?” Another one hissed. “She’s totally gonna reject you.”

You didn’t look up as a man sat next to you on the bench. He almost bumped his knee into yours as he sized you up and tried to get your attention.

“Hey, cutie,” He said, switching to English. “What’re you up to?”

“I’m busy,” You replied in Japanese, still looking at your phone. “Go away.”

He was surprised for a second. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough to deter him.

“Don’t be like that,” He kept trying. “I know a good place where we can go play.”

He tried to put his hand on your knee. You grabbed his thumb and twisted his hand around sharply causing him to yelp in pain. There was a dead look in your eye as you surveyed him.

“Try and touch me again,” You told him. “And I’m going to kick your ass off of this train platform and down the street.”

You shoved his hand away and watched him carefully. He jumped up from the bench to stare down at you. You knew how this was probably going to play out. From your seat you looked shorter than him, and he most likely assumed you didn’t know too many people in Japan, so he would continue to give you a hard time. There was a small part of you that wanted him to try something so you could legally defend yourself and teach him a lesson. It was overshadowed by how annoying this interaction was, but it was still there.

“Bitch,” He hissed. “I’ll-”

“Kirei-Sensei!”

A shorter body barreled into you. You barely had to look at the unruly mop of black hair in your face before you knew which of your students had found you. Mokuba wrapped his arms around your shoulders in a tight hug. He stood between you and the gross guy who had hit on you protectively. You had never been less happy to see Mokuba.

“I thought it was you,” Mokuba smiled. 

“Good morning, Mokuba,” You ruffled his hair as you spoke. “What brings you to the station this early?”

“It’s on the way to work,” Mokuba said.

He pointed over the rail and down onto the street where a car was idling. You knew who was in that car. Now Seto Kaiba probably thought you were annoying for any entirely different set of reasons. If you could get Mokuba to leave at least you didn’t have to worry about how much he complicated the situation.

“Get lost, kid,” The gross guy said.

“You don’t want to be late, Mokuba,” You said with a smile.

“Come with me, Kirei-Sensei,” Mokuba insisted. “Seto wants to talk to you.”

Mokuba had tugged you up from where you were sitting. Before he could pull you off the platform, the guy tried to grab at him. You caught his wrist and shoved yourself between him and Mokuba. Tightening your grip on his wrist, you took a step toward him; you were unsurprisingly the same height. You pinned his arm to his chest before leaning in closely. 

“Lay a finger on my student and I’ll kill you,” You said lowly.

You shoved him away roughly. Then you grabbed Mokuba’s hand and led him down the steps and to his brother’s car. Seto opened the door and stepped out as you delivered Mokuba back to him.

“Don’t ever do that again,” You snapped. “That was reckless, and stupid, and so dangerous, Mokuba. You could’ve gotten hurt.”

“He was harassing you,” Mokuba argued. “I couldn’t leave.”

You grabbed Mokuba by the shoulders and forced him to look at you.

“Please, listen carefully,” You pleaded. “I don’t need to be protected. You’re a kid, Mokuba. If you’re worried about someone’s safety what you should do is call the police, you’re in no place to run head first into danger to try and save someone else. What’s going to happen is you’re going to get hurt and they might still get hurt too.”

“Because I’m younger than you I can’t ever help,” Mokuba snapped back at you. “You’re acting like the rest of the adults who always ignore us.”

“Mokuba,” Seto said. “That’s enough.”

“It’s not your job to protect me, Mokuba,” You snapped. “It will never be your job to protect me. It’s my job to protect you!”

“That’s not fair,” Mokuba yelled. “All I want to do is help you and you never let me.”

“Life isn’t fair,” You countered. “Life’s never been fair. Nowhere is it written that life has to be fair, or just, or make sense, or be long and not filled with pain. What if he had a knife, Mokuba? What was your plan then?”

“I don’t know,” Mokuba admitted.

You brought your hands up to your face and through your hair before flinging them up. Angry tears pricked at the corners of your eyes as you spoke. It was bound to happen. Your voice didn’t waver as hot tears slid down your cheeks.

“You can’t just do things like this without thinking,” You said, not bothering to try and stop yourself from crying. “How would I live with myself if you got hurt doing something I’m capable of doing? What would your brother do if something had happened to you? What would everyone who loves you do if you died because you rushed into a dangerous situation?” 

You furiously wiped at your eyes with the back if your hand. You knew you were a strange sight with your shoulders set squarely and your face hard with anger except for the tears streaming down your cheeks. Mokuba gaped up at you, his expression torn between confusion and appreciation. 

“I’m sorry,” You said, continuing to wipe your eyes. “I’ve always been a crier.”

“No, I’m sorry,” Mokuba said quickly. “I shouldn’t have, I didn’t know, I, I won’t, you can stop, really, help.”

Mokuba turned to Seto instinctively. Seto pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Get in the car,” Seto growled. “Both of you.”

“I’m okay,” You assured him. “I’m fine. I’m fine.”

“Don’t make me repeat myself,” He snapped.

Mokuba opened the back door of the car and waited for you to get in. With a resigned sigh you slid into the back seat. Mokuba closed the door behind you and went to sit in the passenger seat. By the time Mokuba’s door clicked shut Seto was speeding off down the streets of Domino. 

“The next time you step out of this car to run through an intersection I’m putting the child lock back on,” Seto warned him.

“Yes, Seto,” Mokuba said. “I am sorry.”

“Was the car even stopped?” You asked.

“We were stopped at a red light,” Mokuba offered hesitantly.

“Mokuba,” You chided him lightly. “You could’ve gotten hit by a car.”

“I’m sorry,” Mokuba said more forcefully. “How many times do I have to say it?”

“Enough times so that you won’t do it again,” Seto said.

“I won’t,” Mokuba replied. “Why were you even at the train station Kirei-Sensei? Shouldn’t you be at work?”

“I was,” You explained, wiping the last tears from your eyes. “Then I got fired for trying to be a teacher and decided to take a day trip.”

You chuckled before shrugging.

“Guess I’m not going to Tokyo today,” You sighed.

“I’m sorry,” Mokuba said.

It was quieter this time. He thought he ruined your day.

“Can’t do anything about it now,” You said. “I’ll just see what’s on my list to do in town.”

You expected Seto Kaiba to say something in response to that. Like asking you where to be dropped off or if you just wanted to get out anywhere and let them get on with the rest of their day. He didn’t say anything. You pulled into Kaiba Corp’s parking garage in silence.

“We’re showing Mokuba something,” Kaiba told you. “Then I don’t care what you do with the rest of your day.”

“Um, ok,” You said. “I gave my ID back after I left the interview.”

“You don’t need one,” Kaiba said.

You got out of the car and followed the brothers wordlessly into the building. Clearly you weren’t on good enough terms with Seto Kaiba to actually have a conversation with him yet. Mokuba stood between you two as you rode the elevator up to a floor that you hadn’t been on. It wasn’t anywhere near the floor that Kaiba’s office was on. When you stepped out into the floor you realized why.

This floor was built to record the real life actions that game characters moves were modeled on. There was a short girl in the center of the floor trying to flip the man much taller than her over her shoulder. You quirked an eyebrow at how she struggled to flip his entire frame over her shoulder using her arms.

“She’s not doing that right,” You said. “Well not right isn’t the right phrase, she’s not doing it in the easiest way.”

“What?” Mokuba asked.

“Look at their size difference,” You pointed out. “Judo arm throws are cool and all but she’s so much smaller than him it’ll take way more out of her to throw him than it will when he gets thrown. If she was around his size sure but she’s already in a compromised position with him at her back. If it takes her this long to do an arm throw than there’s no way he’s not getting out of it.”

“What would you do?” Kaiba asked.

You looked up at Kaiba curiously. He raised an eyebrow in response. All of a sudden it hit you. This is what you were showing Mokuba.

“Can I?” You asked.

You pointed at the two actors. Kaiba made a dismissive hand gesture which you took as a yes. You introduced yourself to the actors and to the director getting all the footage of their fighting. You positioned the male actor so that he was standing behind the female actor in the same way he had been.

“Grab his arm,” You instructed her. “Then drop to a knee. Doesn’t matter which one. Before you start that though, don’t reach for the ground man, it’ll come to you, and tuck your chin in.”

You stepped out of the way and heard the director call action. She immediately dropped down and you watched with a satisfied smirk as he sailed over her shoulders. There was a loud thud as he collided with the mats and then a weak groan. She jumped to her feet in excitement.

“You did it!” You praised her. “Good job. No hesitation. He wouldn’t know what hit him.”

“If he had a knife,” Kaiba said.

There was a table full of props. On it was a fake knife. You shrugged and said.

“You’re going to have to watch this one,” You said to the actress. “Get up dude. You gotta come at me now.”

“I don’t think I want to,” He groaned.

You laughed before clapping him on the shoulder. 

“C’mon, big guy, no flips this time,” You promised lightheartedly.

He groaned as he pushed himself off the mat. He grabbed the rubber knife and walked back onto the mat. You faced him. He was a little taller than you, a few centimeters but nothing that different. You held your index finger up.

“I’m not actually going to hit you,” You said. “But I’m going to get pretty close. I don’t care how you come at me. That’s up to you.”

The director called action then he lunged at you aiming the fake knife at your stomach. You grabbed both of his wrists, bringing the hand holding the knife behind your body and thrusting your knee up towards his ribcage. He sucked in a breath at the action. You urged him to come at you again from a different angle. Every encounter ended the same, with him fearing for his bodily safety and you burning this idea into Mokuba’s memory.

You looked back at the Kaiba brothers and were honestly a little confused by their reactions. Mokuba stared at you with his more hanging open. The look of pure adoration and wonder was across his face. Seto didn’t look impressed in the slightest.

“Tada,” You said weakly.

“That was so cool,” Mokuba called out. “Why did you learn how to do that?”

“My grandma insisted,” You shrugged. “She was a fan of the idea that all women should be able to protect themselves.”

“Can you do other stuff?” Mokuba asked.

You wanted to ask Mokuba what he meant but Seto interrupted.

“Mokuba,” He said. “I think it’s time we actually get to work.”

“Alright,” Mokuba groaned.

He turned to you enthusiastically.

“We’re working on a little tournament that’s going to be held in Kaiba Land soon,” He told you. “You should enter.”

“Thank you,” You laughed. “But no thank you, like I said I’m not that good.”

You thanked all the members of the motion capture crew and began to walk towards the door. Mokuba flanked you quickly.

“So you’re definitely not working at the school anymore?” He asked.

“No, I’m not,” You replied. “But I was expecting it.”

You turned to look at Seto.

“Can I just take the elevator down by myself or do I need to be escorted out?” You asked him.

“You can leave by yourself,” He said gruffly.

“Will do,” You said. “Thank you for the opportunity to show off my rarely used skills.”

You were out of the building and down the street before your phone started buzzing. The same woman who had called you for the interview was calling you now. She gave you a handful of instructions on when to show up on Monday morning. You thanked her before hanging up.

How in the world did you get this job?


	6. Chapter 6

You walked into Seto Kaiba’s office with a manila folder crammed with papers. You didn’t knock you had just walked in. He hadn’t even looked up as you entered. You walked all the way over to his desk before he even registered you were there.

“Special delivery,” You said with a smile.

You placed the folder in his outstretched hand. When he didn’t say anything to you, just started flipping through the papers, you turned to go. You didn’t walk two steps before he stopped you.

“Who said you could leave?” He asked.

You stopped in your tracks, and turned on your heel. As you clasped your hands behind your back and awaited his directions you noticed Kaiba was letting his eyes roam over your body. You didn’t remember why you hadn’t put a jacket over your lucky blue dress, it wasn’t dangerously low cut, but it showed off your chest nicely. You were enjoying the fact that Seto Kaiba seemed to appreciate the view.

“Is there anything else, Mr. Kaiba?” You asked.

He placed the folder on his desk and pointed next to his desk chair.

“Come here,” He ordered you.

There was no other way to put it besides an order. Even if you wanted to argue that you should get back to work the thought died before your feet started moving. The look he was giving you wasn’t the emotionless stare that he had before. Oh no. This look made your heart thud against your ribcage. This was a look you had fantasized about. It was one full of desire.

When you stood next to him you had to stop your voice from shaking.

“What can I do for you, Mr. Kaiba?” You asked.

“Bend over and grab the edge of my desk,” He said.

“Mr. Kaiba, are you-” You tried to say.

“Don’t make me repeat myself,” He said.

You couldn’t help the thrill that went down your body. You couldn’t help it the first time he said it either. The sharp ache low in your body only got worse as you did what you were told. When you were gripping onto his desk for dear life you heard his chair move. He slid a hand up your bare leg until it reached the hem of your dress. He moved his thumb across the edge of the distinct line where your dress was cutting into your thigh because of your compromised position. You heard his chair move farther away as he stepped behind you to grab your hips.

“What am I going to do with the girl who’s done nothing but tease me all day?” He asked.

The question was rhetorical. He knew what he was going to do. You knew what he was going to do too when his hand started moving. Seto slid his right hand up the swell of your ass and pressed the small of your back down. When he moved your hips back you could feel how interested he was. You bit back the moan threatening to escape.

“Don’t move,” He ordered.

Seto pushed the bottom of your dress up enough so that he could grab the edge of your panties and tug them down roughly. They pooled around your ankles. You heard the distinct noise of him working off his belt buckle before he leaned his whole body over yours. He grabbed a fistful of hair at the base of your neck and pulled your head back to talk directly into your ear.

“Be a good girl,” He growled. “Don’t make me teach you the same lesson twice.”

Seto bit your neck hard enough to leave teeth marks. You sucked in a breath. 

Then you woke up choking on air. 

Your bedroom was too hot. You shoved the sheets off, ignoring the ache between your legs, as you marched into the bathroom. You looked at yourself in the mirror. You had woken up in the middle of the same dream three days in a row. It was starting to look like you hadn’t been getting any sleep.

“That’s enough,” You scolded yourself. “Yes your boss is very fuckable. He’s probably the most fuckable boss in Domino. He’s definitely the most fuckable boss you’ve ever had. Do you know what you’re going to do about it? Absolutely nothing. You’re going to go to work and ignore the fact that you want to fuck your boss. Why? Because you like having a job with benefits and paid vacation time and you don’t want to lose it you sex starved idiot. Now get your shit together and get ready for your first day of work.”

You turned away from the mirror and headed into the kitchen to eat breakfast. Your alarm would go off in ten minutes, but you liked being prepared so your coffee maker was already well into making your first pot. By the time your alarm went off you had already eaten breakfast. You brushed your teeth quickly.

The task of picking out what to wear on your first day of work always made you crazy with possibilities. You didn’t know if everyone was going to dress more business casual and the first day, and you didn’t want to be the only one over dressed, but the possibility of being underdressed was way worse too you. So you decided on a simple black skirt and a light blue button down shirt. It was kind of frilly so you thought it rode the line between all business and business casual pretty nicely. You stepped into a pair of short black heels before heading out the door.

You combed your hair with your fingers as you walked to the train station. All the people waiting looked like you. There were plenty of salarymen in this town. You filed into the train eagerly. Despite your odd dreams you were excited to be in a room full of foreigners. You really desperately wanted to not be the odd one out in a room of your peers anymore.

When you got to Kaiba Corp. the standard procedure was that the first ten minutes of your first day was taken up by getting your employee ID. The secretary handed you the same ID Mokuba had not even a week ago and told you what floor to head to. You clipped it onto your collar as you walked to the elevators. You hit the sixth floor when you entered it and noticed all the other buttons getting pushed. You wondered what was on the third, fifth, and tenth floors.

When the elevator opened on your floor you could already hear a commotion. You heard voices all excitedly calling out in English. As you entered what you had affectionately dubbed “The Translator’s Hub” you were greeted by a chorus of hellos. This was the most white people you had seen in a room since you got to Japan.

“Good morning,” You said to everyone. 

You walked up to the first two women in the room and they smiled as you did. One of them was a brunette and the other was a red head. Both of them were wearing green tops and both of them were shorter than you. 

“Hi, I’m Rachel,” The brunette said.

“And I’m Grace,” The red head said.

You introduced yourself happily.

“Does it matter where I put my stuff?” You asked.

“We have no idea,” Rachel said. “We just put ours here.”

She pointed to the closest of the two cubicles that lined the walls. The one next to them was empty. You motioned to it.

“Do you mind?” You asked.

“Absolutely go for it,” Grace said. “Apparently no one else wants to be by the door.”

You spent the next few minutes greeting everyone. There were only going to be about ten of you translating so at least you didn’t have to remember so many names. But from what you gathered from small talk alone about half of the people in this department were married to Japanese partners. Grace and Rachel were two of those people.

“We found this great café just last week,” Grace was telling you and Rachel. “You two should come with us next time. Of course your significant others are invited too.”

“Oh my god yes,” Rachel said.

“If you don’t mind me fifth wheeling you,” You said with a shrug.

“You’re single?” Rachel asked, her face almost comically contorting in shock.

“Yeah,” You said trying not to laugh. “No boyfriend and no husband.”

“I want to ask you how,” Grace replied. “But I also probably know how.”

“Creepy guys who only want to date any foreigner?” Rachel asked.

“Creepy guys who only want to date any foreigner,” You agreed. “But that’s okay I’m here to work not to find a boyfriend.”

“Yeah that was my guess,” Grace said. “Come along with us anyway, we promise not to be too mushy in front of you.”

“Sure,” You said.

A few more people trickled in. You went through introductions with everyone else and so far you seemed to be lucky. All the people here were just happy to have a good job, none of them had pulled the “I’m a real translator” card yet. Conversation began to die down when an older Japanese man walked into the room. All talking came to a dead halt when Seto Kaiba himself walked in.

He made no introduction. His summary of the game was succinct. His instructions were clear. The main companion in this game was an American girl. She begins with no Japanese comprehension whatsoever and throughout the game she goes from speaking only English, to speaking broken Japanese, then finally to fluent Japanese. It would be your jobs to add authenticity to not only her English speech patterns and dialogue but also in the process of how she learns Japanese. Other than that you didn’t need to know much about the overall game.

“This it Ito,” Kaiba said with a glance at the man next to him. “He’s your department head. If you have problems bother him.”

With that Kaiba left. Ito handed you each a small script in Japanese. Your first task was going to shape how your job went. Everyone was going to translate the same interaction and from there Seto Kaiba would evaluate your specific translations and figure out what you were all going to be working on.

“This is weird,” You muttered to yourself.

Grace stifled a giggle.

It wasn’t a long scene but the translation was taking you forever. You opted to write directly on the script you were given. That way you could circle the parts that you thought wouldn’t come across well especially cross culturally. By the time it was noon you had marked your script up almost entirely without translating a word of English.

“Woah,” Rachel said. “That’s a lot of mark ups.”

“Old habits die hard,” You said. “My last job was teaching. I guess I’m still in teacher mode.”

“Either way it’s lunch time,” Grace said. “Let’s go to the cafeteria.”

“Lead the way,” You said gladly.

The employee cafeteria at Kaiba Corp was great. You, Rachel and Grace had opted to sit at a corner table and try to talk as quietly as possible. Inevitably whenever you had something in common your volume would harshly raise and you had to remind yourselves to be quiet alongside the sidelong glances of your fellow employees. After the third outburst, you buried your face in your hands; shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter, as Rachel and Grace bonded with you over the weirdest questions you’d ever been asked.

“I was wondering who was being so loud.”

You removed your face from your hands to see Mokuba approaching your table. 

“Sorry, sorry,” You tried to apologize between barely stifled giggles. “It won’t happen again, Mr. Kaiba.”

You saw the light pink of a blush beginning to start on his cheeks. Mokuba grinned impishly at you.

“You know you can still call me Mokuba,” He said. “Mr. Kaiba is my brother, Kirei-Sensei.”

“Kirei-Sensei,” Rachel repeated.

She looked at you and batted her eyelashes a few times.

“There is like absolutely no way a Japanese kid with almost no English comprehension can say my last name,” You told her. “So I let my kids give me a nickname.”

“That’s so cute,” Grace said.

“Who chose Sensei’s nickname?” Rachel asked.

“The class,” Mokuba said. “We agreed she had to be Kirei-Sensei.”

“My little heart can’t take it,” Grace added, dramatically clutching her chest.

“What are you up to today, Mokuba?” You asked desperately trying to change the subject.

“I have to get lunch quickly before heading back to Seto’s office,” Mokuba explained. “The tournament preparations are almost done.”

“We won’t keep you then,” You said. “Thanks for your hard work.”

Mokuba smiled as he said goodbye. You watched as he made small talk with the lady behind the counter and she brought out two packed lunch boxes. He hurried away without throwing another glance in your direction.

“Are you ever letting me live that down?” You asked.

“Absolutely not,” They agreed.

The entire way back to the translator’s hub Rachel and Grace mercilessly teased you. You took the good natured ribbing in stride as they made up worse and worse cutesy nicknames for you. You shook your head in defeat as you sat at your desk. 

The rest of the day went quickly. Before you knew it you were handing your work into Ito. He was stacking your papers in a manila folder. Your whole body tensed as you looked at it. Ito held up the folder.

“I have to find the head writer before he leaves,” Ito said to the room. “Would anyone mind taking these to Mr. Kaiba?”

The room was so quiet you were disturbed. After a few deathly silent moments you raised your hand.

“I’ll go,” You offered.

“Thank you,” Ito said.

He gave you directions to Seto Kaiba’s office as if you needed them. It was like he thought you hadn’t been paying attention the first time you were here. You took the folder and walked out into the hallway. While you were waiting for the elevator you tried to take deep breaths. The elevator dinged open and you stepped inside jerkily. Pressing the top button you leaned against the wall.

“This isn’t a dream,” You thought. “You’re going to walk into his office hand him the folder and then get out. That’s all you have to do.”

The elevator let you out onto the top floor. Seto Kaiba’s secretary looked at you strangely.

“I’m here to give Mr. Kaiba the translator’s notes,” You said.

She looked at the large folder you were carrying before hitting the intercom.

“Sir the translator’s work is here,” She said.

His response came immediately.

“Send Ito in,” Kaiba said.

With a tremble in your hand you pushed open Kaiba’s office door.


	7. Chapter 7

The first official day of work on a new game was the worst to Seto Kaiba. It signaled months of inevitable problems that he had to deal with. Months of long days and miniscule nights that only led to more issues the less sleep he was able to get. The first day wasn’t the calm before the storm. After months of game pitches finally being green lit and hiring new employees this was the eye of the storm. It was an infuriating day.

So by the time it was five in the evening all Seto Kaiba wanted to do was have a drink as he reviewed the work the translators had done. Ito knew he was often required to stay late and report on what he saw, work ethic, if anyone was struggling with complex words or concepts, who in fact knew how to make their characters more human. When you walked through his door, Seto Kaiba was by the small bar cart that was against the wall next to the sole couch in the room. It was normally only him drinking so it was only held a few bottles, but the glasses were fancy and the crystal decanters looked like they cost more than your monthly rent. Why hadn't you noticed it the last time you were in here?

Seto Kaiba had a drink in his hand. When he saw you walk in instead of Ito he slammed the glass down on the bar cart and shattered it.

“Fuck,” He snarled.

“I’m an EMT,” You shouted.

You quickly dropped the folder on the couch and reached out for Kaiba’s wrist. He jerked it back out of your reach. With a huff you grabbed the towel hanging off the cart.

“Do you want me to call an ambulance?” You asked.

“No,” He growled.

“Then let me help,” You said firmly. “Otherwise I’m going outside and telling your secretary that her boss is bleeding out.”

You handed him the towel. With a glare he snatched it out of your hand.

“Hold it above your heart and put pressure on it,” You instructed. “Is there a first aid kit?”

Kaiba slowly raised his arm until his hand was level with his shoulder. He nodded towards his desk.

“Bottom right drawer,” He said.

“Alright,” You said. “Sit down.”

Kaiba gave you a look.

“The last thing I need is you fainting,” You said. “And please don’t argue you won’t, standing when you’re losing blood makes that possibility much higher.”

You turned your back to jog to Kaiba’s desk. You heard him sigh loudly and then drop onto the couch. You fished out the first aid kit and began to walk back.

“I don’t have time for this,” Kaiba said.

“Well whose fault is that?” You replied.

The look he gave you spoke volumes about all the terrible ways you would die.

“Wait until after your hand isn’t bleeding anymore to fire me, ok,” You sighed. “Do you have any blood borne diseases I should be worried about?”

“No,” He snapped.

“Standard question,” You said. “Shit there’s no tweezers in here. Stay there I’ll be back in a minute.”

You ran out of Kaiba’s office and into the elevator. Once it dropped you off at your floor, you ran past your confused coworkers to grab your purse. You slung it over your shoulder and made your way back to Kaiba’s office. You didn’t bother knocking you just barged in. He looked like he was in a worse mood.

You quickly pulled out the bag you brought in case of medical emergencies. You sifted through its contents before grabbing the little box with a pair of tweezers and scissors in it. You took the tweezers out and disinfected them before moving on to everything else you needed. Laying everything you’d need on the open top of the first aid kit you sat next to Seto Kaiba.

“Hand, please,” You said.

Kaiba reluctantly dropped his hand into your waiting palm. You took the bloody towel away before picking up the tweezers.

“You really shattered that thing,” You said in amazement. “Your hand is so cut up this is going to take a little longer than I expected.”

He didn’t reply. You weren’t surprised. You picked out two small glass shards before dropping them onto the top of the coffee table next to your knees. You had to keep wiping the blood off of his hand to see if there was more glass imbedded in his cuts.

“So, what’d the glass do to you?” You asked.

“It sent someone else to do its job,” Kaiba seethed.

Oh, Ito was in trouble.

“Bad work ethic is easily frowned upon,” You agreed. “But I don’t think it’s worth the time to get glass picked out of your hand. You should get a punching bag, no piercing wounds involved with that.”

“Do you have to talk?” He asked sharply.

“Old habits,” You shrugged. “Have to make sure you’re not faint.”

“And you didn’t have to yell,” Kaiba said. “I knew you were an EMT.”

You paused with your hand in midair. It was only a moment but you knew Kaiba had noticed. So you went back to combing through his wounds methodically.

“How did you know I was an EMT?” You asked. “I know what’s on my background check. I’ve never had an EMT job. I just went through training.”

You looked up at Kaiba. He didn’t respond. He was giving you that look again. It wasn’t a slip up. Kaiba wanted you to know he had information on you. He wanted to see your reaction.

“Did, did you have an investigator look into me?” You asked. “Just because Mokuba was spending more time around me than you thought was necessary?”

“Suddenly you’re not so confident about what your file says about you,” Kaiba observed. “Only people who have something to hide get this nervous.”

“Everyone has something to hide, Mr. Kaiba,” You replied. “I bet there are plenty of things you don’t want people to know about you just because it’s not their business to know.”

The office door flung open.

“Hey, Seto, Nagano says,” Mokuba stopped short. “Seto are you alright?”

“I’m fine, Mokuba,” Seto replied evenly.

“Yeah, your brother’s lucky,” You said. “This is nothing a little TLC won’t fix.”

“TLC,” Mokuba repeated slowly.

“It stands for tender loving care,” You replied with a smirk. “Normally it’s used in reference to situations that are bad but could be worse.”

Mokuba made a positive noise. He walked closer to the couch to look at what you were doing.

“Kirei-Sensei,” Mokuba said. “You’re trained in this too?”

You inclined your head at Kaiba before asking, “Would he have let me work on him if I wasn’t?”

“Definitely not,” Mokuba agreed. “So is there anything you can’t do?”

“Math above pre-calculus,” You began. “Most things involving a copy machine, passing up a sale, and not care about people.”

From its spot on the table in front of you, you could hear the faint buzzing of your phone. While you grabbed bandages and gauze you looked at Mokuba.

“Could you do me a favor and get my phone out of my bag?” You asked. “I need both hands for this and it might be an emergency.”

“Sure,” Mokuba agreed happily.

He rummaged through your purse for a second before picking up your phone. He whistled lowly.

“Your screen is super cracked,” Mokuba said, his voice bordering on amazement. “How’d you even break it this bad?”

“Dropped it on the stairs,” You replied. “Who’s calling?”

“It’s a guy named Sam,” Mokuba said. “You’re awfully close in his contact picture.”

With a heavy sigh you said, “Could you put it on speaker phone? I can’t ignore this.”

"I don't want to hear about one of your little friend's lives," Seto seethed.

"I'm his landlady," You explained. "I own the house he's renting, if there's a problem with it I need to fix it."

Seto Kaiba glared at you but he didn't protest more so you assumed that he was allowing it. Mokuba must have made the same assumption because he did as he was told and placed the phone on the table near you.

“You’re on speakerphone,” You said. “Is the house on fire?”

“No,” He replied softly.

“Are you on fire?” You asked.

“No,” Came the same soft reply.

“Then why are you calling me at four in the morning?” You asked. “I know you have work in like five hours.”

“She cheated on me,” Sam said.

“Oh, Sammy,” You groaned. “I’m sorry you have to go through this. Do you want to tell me what happened?”

You were steadily wrapping the bandage around Seto’s hand. If you had looked up at his face you would’ve seen the glare sent your way for offering to listen to your friend’s problem. He didn’t want to hear this  
more than he didn’t want to hear you asking him twenty questions.

“I’m on speaker,” Sam said lowly.

“Yeah,” You replied. “But trust me no one else in this room cares about your love life.”

“It’s graphic,” Sam said, his voice wavering through the words. “I just can’t believe she did this.”

“Honestly,” You said in shock. “You can’t believe the girl who cheated on you two months ago did it again when she was given the chance to?”

“People make mistakes,” Sam tried to reason.

“Cheating isn’t a mistake, Sammy,” You cooed softly. “Look the last thing I want to do is try and change who you are as a person. I know you believe that everyone is inherently good and that they deserve another chance when they fuck up but not everyone is as kind as you.”

“You haven’t spent all the time I did with her,” Sam argued. “She’s not a bad person, she’s, she’s-”

“She’s what?” You asked. “Misguided, or no you weren’t really officially dating the first time so it didn’t count, oh no wait, wait, now I remember she’s really grieving the loss of a close friend and the only way for her to do that is to have sex with a guy who isn’t you when she’s still dating you. Have I covered all her excuses yet or did she give you a few more the second time you found out?”

There was a pause on the other end of the phone. Sam took a deep breath but it didn’t seem to help. The choked watery response he gave was a simple.

“What do I do?”

“Well first of all, you should break up with her,” You advised. “She clearly wasn’t sorry for hurting you the first time if she did it again.”

“It’s not that easy,” Sam said, his voice cracking through the last word.

“Why not?” You asked.

There was a long pause on the other end of the phone.

“It’s so lonely without you here,” He admitted quietly.

You stopped bandaging Kaiba’s hand. For a second you held his hand in both of yours as your shoulders dropped and you let out a small sigh. You quickly resumed bandaging Kaiba’s hand.

“Sammy, go into the craft room,” You instructed. “There should be a basket near the armchair filled with balls of yarn.”

“What now?” Sam asked.

“On the bookshelf near the window there should be a book called Knitting for Beginners,” You said. “Next to that should be a few different types of knitting needles.”

“I’m going to knit?” Sam asked.

“You’re going to teach yourself how to knit a scarf,” You said. “Knit one for everyone you know as their Christmas presents this year. Use the book as a guide and if you can’t understand it look up some videos.  
Teach yourself as many different stitches as you can. Listen to a podcast while you do it, or an audiobook, or even put on the TV in the background as long as you don’t have to focus on what’s on the screen.” 

“Then what do I do?” Sam asked.

“After you’ve mastered a scarf, go bigger,” You said. “Knit little hats for the maternity ward at the closest hospital, knit baby blankets and booties, then go bigger a real blanket that you can use when it gets cold.”

“And after I finished all that?” Sam asked.

“Then move on to sewing,” You instructed. “Or start quilting if you’d rather do that, but make it a skill that you have to start from scratch to learn. Take up gardening. Learn to shoot skeet, shoot a bow and arrow, learn to cook pasta like a five star chef in Italy, learn a new language or take up scrapbooking but make sure you do something that will occupy your time.”

“And if I do all this I won’t be lonely?” He asked.

“If you do this you can teach yourself to be alone without being lonely,” You said. “Everything’s worse when you have nothing to keep you busy. If there’s a long list of projects you have to do then there’s no need to think about being lonely, is there?”

“Why does this feel like a grandma lesson?” Sam asked.

“Because it absolutely is one,” You said with a laugh. “Feeling any better?”

“A little,” Sam said. “By the way, why am I one speaker phone?”

“Someone got hurt at work,” You explained. “I’m bandaging him up as we speak.”

“Is he hot?” Sam asked.

“Sammy,” You snapped. “He is my boss and he can hear you.”

“That didn’t answer my question,” Sam teased you.

“I am not having this conversation right now,” You groaned. “Do me a favor and call me back in like a half hour if you’re still up. I should be home by then. We can skype while I make dinner.”

“Sure thing, sweetie,” Sammy said sweetly before adding. “Make sure your boss is really happy with your work.”

“Goodbye, Samuel,” You said firmly.

He burst out into a fit of laughter before hanging up. With a sigh you finished wrapping Kaiba’s hand. You patted it twice before starting to pack up your things.

“All finished,” You said.

“So,” Mokuba said. “Who was that?” 

“Sammy,” You said. “He’s my best friend.”

You clicked the first aid kit shut before addressing Kaiba.

“An over the counter pain medication should do wonders for you,” You instructed him. “Try and keep it elevated, and don’t drink alcohol it’ll make your bleeding worse. If you need me to bandage it again tomorrow I can do that too.”

“You avoided his question pretty well,” Mokuba said.

“Mokuba have you ever had the concept of work appropriate conversations explained to you?” You asked.

“Yes,” Mokuba smiled.

“Then you should know discussing your personal opinion on your boss’s appearance, especially while he’s not a foot away from you is super inappropriate,” You replied with a sharp smile.

“Come on, Kirei-Sensei,” Mokuba insisted. “It’ll be like one of those games we played on the first day of class to get to know each other better.”

“I’m going to politely decline that offer,” You said. “Seeing as I’m the only one in the room at a disadvantage.”

“Mokuba, I don’t have time for this,” Seto said. “I have to review the translator’s work.”

“Well Ito is gone, so you can’t ask him about the translators,” Mokuba said before getting a brilliant idea. “Why don’t you ask Kirei-Sensei what she thinks?”

“Because that isn’t her job,” Seto replied.

He went to run his injured hand through his hair before wincing and biting back a painful noise. You rummaged through your purse until you found the bottle of pain killers that was always somewhere along the bottom. After fishing it out you held out the bottle. Kaiba glared at it then his eyes trailed up your arm to glare directly at you.

You shrugged before saying, “You don’t have to take them.”

“I don’t need your charity,” He spat.

“Is politeness charity now?” You asked. “I was unaware there had been a change in social etiquette. If me offering you free non brand name pain meds is charity I’ll gladly charge a few hundred yen for two of them.”

“Seto, Kirei-Sensei is being nice,” Mokuba said.

“I don’t need her niceties,” Seto replied.

“Well then next time I guess I’ll ignore your bleeding hands in favor of leaving on time,” You said before laughing at yourself. “Who am I kidding? Next time I’ll stop to help too. I’ll just expect you to be a better patient.”

You stood and grabbed the folder you dropped. You gingerly placed it on the table in front of Seto Kaiba before bowing slightly. You grabbed your bag before addressing him again.

“If that will be all I’ll be on my way,” You said.

"Who said you could leave?" Kaiba asked.

You fought the shudder of anticipation that wanted to trail down your spine. This wasn't a dream. Mokuba was two feet away from the two of you. Still you weren't entirely sure what expression had just flashed across your face, fear or arousal so acute it was almost painful. Probably a little bit of both if you were being honest. Seto Kaiba stood so he could tower over you. He was giving you a look that made your mouth go dry. You understood that this type of look probably shouldn’t be turning you on. There were probably dozens of businessmen twice or three times Kaiba’s age that saw this look and panicked. To have the undivided attention of Seto Kaiba didn’t make you squirm, or at least, it didn’t make you squirm in a bad way. You didn’t even realize you had been unabashedly staring back at Kaiba until you heard Mokuba clear his throat.

" Oh, fuck," You thought. "Do something, say anything to break the silence."

"Will that be all, Mr. Kaiba?" You asked softly.

"No," He said.

You didn't know what you were anticipating more, the probable fate of getting fired within the next few minutes or the newest crop of wet dreams this specific encounter would plague you with. Why was your life like this?


	8. Chapter 8

“Teach Mokuba how to bandage my hand,” Seto Kaiba ordered.

You sighed heavily and fought the urge to scrub a hand down your face.

“I don’t think you understand how long it takes to become an EMT,” You tried to say as delicately as possible. “Mokuba would need a lot of specialized training that I’m not qualified to give.”

“I’m not telling you to give him EMT training,” Seto seethed. “I’m telling you to teach him how to do this one thing.”

“This one thing isn’t exactly covered in the first lesson,” You replied tightly. “There’s more that Mokuba would need to know just to make sure your hand isn’t infected and is properly healing. This is all a moot point though because I’m fairly sure that Mokuba doesn’t want to learn how to do it.”

“I’m fine being way over here,” Mokuba agreed. “As far away from your bloody ripped up hand as possible.”

“You didn’t want to learn,” Seto countered. “So why is it different for Mokuba?”

You plastered on the tight smile that you adopted when “concerned” parents decided to start screaming at you. 

“I see Mr. Koffman is still teaching the EMT course that I took,” You replied, trying your best not to say it through grit teeth. “I have to tell him to stop calling me a success story when there was no doubt that I would stay for the entire training program. My own circumstances, whatever led me to know what I do, it has nothing to do with Mokuba. I needed to learn and so I did. Mokuba doesn’t and so I won’t force him. Please understand, he’ll be happier not knowing, and your injury will be dealt with more effectively if I’m the one monitoring it.”

Seto glared down at you. His lip curling up into a snarl.

“If this gets in the way of your job I won’t hesitate to fire you,” Seto snapped. “Your job description hasn’t changed. I won’t compensate you for the time you spend maintaining this wound. Is that clear?”

“Crystal,” You said. “If you’ll excuse me, Mr. Kaiba, I think it’s about time I left you to your work.”

“You’re dismissed,” He snarled.

You waved goodbye to Mokuba before exiting the office. You walked all the way to the elevator with your back rigid and your head up. Once the doors closed in front of you, you sagged onto the elevator wall clutching your heart through your shirt. 

“Why me?” You whispered.

You took a shaky breath. There was no way you could deal with this consistently, every day, until all of Seto Kaiba’s wounds healed. If he kept using his hand for eight hours a day and if he ignored your advice,which let’s be honest you expected him to, his cuts would keep reopening. You couldn’t contain your thirst for your boss if you had to interact with him every single day for months on end.

When the elevator opened on the ground floor you stood tall and walked as smoothly as you could out of the building. When you were down the street your phone rang again. When you dug it out of your purse you were surprised to see it wasn’t Sammy calling again. This was a number you didn’t know. It was local though so you figured you might as well pick it up.

“Hello?” You answered.

“Kirei-Sensei, I have a question,” Mokuba’s voice rang out from the other line. 

“Mokuba did you take my phone number from Kaiba Corp’s employee files?” You asked.

“Maybe,” He giggled. “But I have a serious question.”

“Shoot,” You said.

“How long did it take you to become an EMT?” He asked.

“Well training for an Emergency Response Technician is 40 hours,” You told him. “EMT basic training is 120 hours, then on top of that EMT intermediate training is another 320 hours, and my course required 1200 hours for EMT- Paramedic although there are some that only require 1000 hours.”

“Wow that’s a long time,” Mokuba whistled.

“Please don’t tell me you’re considering it because your brother doesn’t want me touching his hands?” You asked.

“No,” Mokuba laughed. “I’m definitely not considering it.”

“Good,” You said. “Is this your cell phone number Mokuba? If you’re going to call me all the time I better have it saved.”

“Nope this is Seto’s cell phone,” Mokuba chirped back at you. “His hand is all screwed up now so he might as well be able to contact you whenever he goes overboard and needs you to patch him up again.”

“Oh,” You tried not to sound shaken. “That’s good to know. Have a nice night, Mokuba.”

“Thank you for taking care of Seto,” Mokuba replied. “Have a nice night, Kirei-Sensei.”

You stashed your phone back in your purse and made your way back home as quickly as you could. When you were finally home you kicked your heels off by the door and dropped your bag on your kitchen table. If it buzzed you should hear it within the walls of your tiny little kitchen. 

You were honestly so tired after work you didn’t want to make dinner. Convenience store food was pretty good, and it would only take you a few extra minutes to change and walk down the street to get a prepared meal. Your grandmother’s voice nagged in the back of your head about food made with love though, so with a sigh, you washed your hands and started making dinner.

As you stood at your counter preparing dinner it hit you exactly how much you missed your home. You missed the kitchen’s granite countertop and how you could make four different parts of dinner on four different burners at the same time. You missed the formal dining room that grandma insisted you always eat dinner in even if the only people eating were you and her, and more often than not Sammy. You missed the sunroom full of wicker furniture that overlooked the small flower beds grandma meticulously tended. You missed the armchair in the craft room with at least two hand knit blankets draped over the back at all times. You missed the rocking chair in the corner of your bedroom next to the window that you could see the birch trees that lined your neighbor's yard.

Your heart ached so sharply that you even missed all the things you used to hate. If you ever saw a canadian goose again you may just kiss it. Or those kids you went to highschool with, the ones who you swore you never wanted to see again, if they asked what you were up to in line at the grocery store you would actually stop to chat with them. Even the gross rum raisin ice cream that Sammy insisted on having in the freezer would be a welcome sight as long as you were home again.

Through the ache you continued preparing dinner. You picked up your phone to put on a podcast in an attempt to drown out the unbearable silence to see that your phone was lit up with text messages. You had been so engrossed in your longing that you hadn’t heard it buzz. There were three from a number claiming to be Mokuba, just in case you needed him, if Seto was being unreasonable. Rachel and Grace had both sent you one, although Rachel’s was a meme about your boss and Grace’s was a genuine invitation to join her and her husband for dinner anytime you wanted. 

You wanted to appreciate Grace’s text more than Rachel’s, you really did, but….

Rachel was perceptive and she liked to tease. So when she sent you three more pictures of Seto Kaiba with just the word Ladies underneath it you weren’t surprised. Had you even actually said anything to her about having a teenage crush on Kaiba so embarrassing there were several posters of him on your wall? Several posters and some magazine interview spreads if you were being completely honest. They were now tucked into the back of your closet because a grown woman having a cringe worthy shrine to sixteen year old Seto Kaiba was a bit strange in your eyes.

You replied back to everyone hurriedly. Then you flipped on a storytelling podcast as you finished making dinner. It was going to be a series of long nights you just knew it. You barely tasted your dinner you ate it so fast. There were no papers for you to grade anymore but you were determined to not let that mean you were going to spend your nights doing nothing. You sent the same text message to Mokuba, Rachel and Grace.

What’s your favorite color?

As you waited for replies you changed into an old worn pair of jeans and a thin grey sweatshirt. You grabbed your wallet, phone, and keys before shoving your feet into a pair of sneakers. There was a craft store a few blocks down the street. So in your hour of desperation you turned your loneliness into productivity. The walk there was unhindered. It wasn’t until you were running your fingers across different brands of yarn to feel the softest ones that you looked at your phone to see who had responded.

Purple. Green. Black.

You don’t know what surprised you more, that Mokuba’s favorite color was purple or that Rachel admitted to loving the color black. You snatched two balls of each color before stopping to admire a deep blue yarn next to the purples. You grabbed two balls of it too. Seto Kaiba wouldn’t appreciate a hand knit scarf. He would probably never wear it.

That’s not the point, your grandma’s voice whispered in your ear, The point is to make someone feel loved without ever saying the words. Winter is harsh and unforgiving, I want you to be warm so I made you this scarf. If they wear it or don’t, you told them you loved them by making it, that’s the point.

You missed your grandma.

The ache in your chest grew sharper, and sharper, until finally your hands sought out the yarn balls that made your grandma’s favorite color combination. One she affectionately referred to as strawberry shortcake, you picked up four balls each of sand, peach, dusky pink, camel, and baby pink. There was a strong possibility you weren’t buying enough for the project that you were going to start. You bought them anyway. You made sure to buy several different sizes of knitting needles before paying for your purchase.

“How could I forget my knitting needles at home?” You scolded yourself. “I just spent money I didn’t need to on craft supplies I own half a world away.”

Back home you organized your colors on half of the kitchen table ranging from the easiest stitch you were going to use to the hardest one. Mokuba’s purple was first. You hadn’t knit in a year so you thought it’d be best to start off with a simple knit stitch. He didn’t need a fancy scarf. Grace’s green was next. You’d knit her a lacy cowl. If you had purple leftover from Mokuba’s scarf you’d start on Rachel’s porcupine stitched scarf. It looked best with alternating colors. 

If you got to it, if you had the time, if all your other projects were completed to your liking, then and only then would you start on Seto Kaiba’s blue scarf. You had tried a reversible cable stitch before and it hadn’t turned out perfect but you liked it. The real reason you chose it was because it looked impressive. You figured that if there was even the slightest chance of Kaiba actually wearing a scarf you made it had to look like it wasn’t homemade. If you didn’t think it turned out well enough then you could keep it for yourself. You liked blue. Even if the scarf didn’t turn out perfect than you would gladly bundle the thing around you during the frigid winters. 

You started flipping through the extensive list of podcasts you listened to in an attempt to find one that piqued your interest. You were halfway down the list when your phone started ringing. Mokuba’s name lit up the screen. With a bemused grin you set your phone down on the table and put it on speaker phone so you could knit and talk at the same time.

“To what do I owe the pleasure of a second call tonight, Mokuba?” You asked.

“Just wanted to know why you asked about my favorite color,” Mokuba replied. “Am I getting a present?”

“Maybe,” You said. “But it won’t be for a little while.”

“Are you making something?” Mokuba asked.

“I am,” You said.

“Are you making something because you’re lonely?” Mokuba asked.

That question was quieter. It was like Mokuba didn’t want to ask. If he asked, and the answer was yes, he would feel the need to do something about your loneliness. He was that type of person. You wondered how a child so fragile and kind came from Seto Kaiba’s care.

“If I am?” You asked.

“Did you learn how to be an EMT because you were lonely?” Mokuba asked.

“No,” You said firmly. “That’s a very personal topic and I don’t want to talk about it, Mokuba.”

“How many things did you learn how to do because you were lonely?” Mokuba asked.

“Loneliness wasn’t my only motivator,” You sighed. “My grandma thought that the more time I used up doing productive things the less time I had to get myself in trouble.”

“You were a troublemaker, Kirei-Sensei?” Mokuba asked with a giggle.

“Only at my own expense,” You admitted reluctantly. “Were you worried about me? Is that why you called?”

“Well, worried about Seto too,” Mokuba said softly. “He hasn’t stopped working since you left and I think he’s already bleeding through his bandage. Can you come back in and look at it?”

“It’s only been a few hours,” You said startled. “If he’s already through that bandage than I might have to force him to go to the hospital to get stitches.”

“I don’t know if it’s that bad,” Mokuba said. “But I’d feel better if you came to check on it just in case.”  
“I’ll be back as soon as I can be,” You said.

You hung up and counted the stitches on the row you had just knit before tossing the beginnings of Mokuba’s scarf into a bag. You threw some supplies from your medical bag in too. Before you had time to think you were out the door and heading back to Kaiba Corp. If this was going to be your schedule you really were going to die of exhaustion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess whose laptop suddenly stopped working, and not only did she have to get a new computer, but also try and salvage anything off the old one to get a bunch of chapters back only to lose pretty much everything? This gal. I was really discouraged after losing so much progress and it took me a while to get my motivation back. I've been trying to kick myself into gear, and have been wondering if you lovely readers would like me to post a link to my tumblr if anyone was interested in sending me some drabble requests. Let me know what you think, and as always kudos and comments are greatly appreciated.


	9. Chapter 9

Kaiba Corp. was eerily quiet. It was just past seven but the only people still in the building seemed to be the security staff and Seto Kaiba himself. You bypassed the first with your company ID and headed straight up to Kaiba’s office. Mokuba had told you to just walk in but you hesitated to knock after not seeing his secretary at her desk. There was no answer.

Fearing the worst you shoved his office door open to see Seto Kaiba typing away at his desk. 

“Normally when there’s no answer to a knock that means not to come in,” Kaiba snapped. “Or do they just not teach you how to knock in America?”

“You haven’t even looked up how did you know it was me?” You asked.

“No one else would have walked in,” He countered. “What do you want? I’m busy and you’re a distraction.”

“Mokuba told me to come quickly because your hand was bleeding badly,” You said.

“It isn’t,” Kaiba said. “Now you can leave.”

“If Mokuba was worried about your injury I should at least look at it,” You argued. 

“It can wait until tomorrow,” Kaiba seethed.

Your phone sprang to life in your pocket at the same time there was a rhythmic buzzing from Kaiba’s direction. His frown turned into a scowl as he read his message. You opened yours reluctantly.

_**Sorry about the fib, Kirei-Sensei. I am worried about Seto so if you could keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn’t stress his hand too much it would make me feel better. Thank you <3 ** _

You sighed.

“I’m guessing Mokuba also said something that’s going to make you feel extremely guilty if you don’t go along with it,” You started. “So, uh, I’ll be over here, not getting paid to look after your hand injury. If it starts hurting a lot just shout. I’m just going to be as quiet as possible to not disturb you.”

“Then why are you still talking?” Kaiba snapped.

You mimed zipping your lips shut before sitting on the same couch you’d been on only a few hours ago. You grabbed your knitting out of your bag. You had brought it in case Kaiba needed to go to the hospital. Stitches could take a while especially if you were at the end of the waiting list and hospital waiting rooms made you antsy. At least now you had something to do while you waited for Kaiba to be done with whatever work he was doing. 

Mokuba was going to owe you for the rest of his life.

Somewhere between the repetitive motions of your knitting and the soft clicking of Kaiba’s typing a few hours trickled by. When Kaiba stood you picked your head up to see if he was ready to get his hand checked. He was headed towards the couch so you put your knitting down on your lap. When Kaiba stopped at the bar cart your eyebrows shot up.

“Really,” You said. “I didn’t expect you to listen to me but I didn’t think you’d go against my professional medical advice in front of me.”

Kaiba uncapped the decanter, poured himself a hefty glass and stared at you as he drank it. He poured himself another glass before recapping the decanter and heading back to his desk.

“Well I asked for a translation and not a critique of the script and what’s on my desk?” Kaiba asked sharply.

“First of all, I translated everything like I was told to. Second of all, maybe next time don’t get a fifty year old Japanese man to write the lines of a sixteen year old American girl,” You countered. “Seeing as there’s no person in their right mind, who isn’t the world's most massive weeaboo nerd trying to emulate their favorite anime character, who would talk like that. If anyone I went to highschool with said the phrases “I’ll definitely protect you” or “you’re a hundred years too early to do insert thing here” they’d get the shit kicked out of them. At the very least they’d be ostracized by anyone else who isn’t a huge weeaboo nerd. They would not be popular.”

“And you can do better?” Kaiba sneered.

“Well I was a sixteen year old once and I’m an American girl so I think I’m qualified to talk like one,” You said. “I could absolutely write a more convincing sixteen year old American girl.”

“Then write me a better script,” Seto said.

“I’m sorry, what?” You replied.

You blinked at him in shock. He looked back at you unbothered.

“If you can do a better job then do it,” Seto ordered. “I want it on my desk no later than Friday.”

“An entire script,” You said in disbelief. “That’s impossible. I don’t even know anything about the actual game besides what was on the four pages we translated today.”

“I was hoping you two would be getting along better by the time I got here,” Mokuba’s voice drifted in from the doorway. 

He stood in the open doorway. With a huff Mokuba leaned against the doorframe.

“Am I going back downstairs to get a copy of the script?” He asked.

“There should be a copy in my secretary’s desk,” Seto said.

Mokuba disappeared into the hallway only to come back holding what might as well have been a phone book. His face scrunched up in a strange apologetic half smile when he handed it to you. You opened up the last page to look at the number in the corner. You turned your head slowly until you could look Seto Kaiba in the eyes as you spoke.

“This is a 2,745 page script,” You said slowly.

“That’s only the main storyline,” Kaiba smirked at you. “The side quests and DLC we plan on adding after the initial release add another 3,072.”

“Seto, be fair,” Mokuba whined. “No one can do that.”

“Fine, the first hour of gameplay then,” Seto amended. 

“That’s what, 60 pages,” You said. “Yeah, it’ll be on your desk by Friday.”

For a long moment you and Kaiba stared at each other, blank faced and unblinking, until Mokuba tugged on your sleeve.

“Kirei-Sensei,” Mokuba whispered. “You don’t have to do this.”

“Oh, Mokuba,” You cooed. “When I was your age my Grandma used to tell me the only good reason to do something was a genuine love of whatever it is I wanted to do, but as an adult I found another equally valid reason to do anything. Would you like to know what it is?”

“Sure,” Mokuba replied with a shrug.

“Spite,” You hissed.


End file.
